Websites managers have long desired a method to provide customized content to different clients and/or users. In part, the underlying motivation is to be all things to all people, and to thereby achieve greater recognition and acclaim, increased utilization by the public and greater commercial profit. Not surprisingly, these are difficult goals.
Recognizing that customization requires information about the preferences of each user, many websites have gone directly to their users for that information. In particular, some websites have provided each individual user with opportunities to provide the website with information about one's self and to use that information to customize the presentation of the website for the individual user. A typical scenario is to ask the user to create an account, log into that account, and provide personal information. The user may provide such information because of a desire to obtain more relevant content on the website, and to save time and effort required to find such content.
Not surprisingly, many users decline to create such an account. Reasons for this include the onerous effort of providing demographic information, geographic information, interest information, and other information. Even users who do not mind the loss of privacy object to the tedious processes involved. However, a significant portion of the population is actively concerned with privacy. These concerns may be based on philosophy, or more pragmatically, on fear of a criminal scam. Accordingly, while websites attempt to personalize their content and to achieve wider popularity, such attempts have had mixed success, as people continue to protect their information.